Apparatus and method for producing boxed tissues



April 26, 6 R. COUZENS ETAL 3,248,102

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING BOXED TISSUES Filed May 14, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS. REGINALD COUZENS MICHAEL M. YOU/V6 8V 5:. e a

ATTORNEYS.

April 26, 1966 R. couzENs ETAL 3,248,102

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING BOXED TISSUES Filed May 14, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/G. Z

INVENTORS REGINALD COUZENS MICHAEL M. YOU/V6 ATTORNEYS.

April 26, 1966 c uz s ETAL 3,248,102

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING BOXED TISSUES Filed May 14, 1964 s Sheets-shalt 3 'gg z a INVENTORS. REGINALD COUZE/VS M/CHA EL M. YOU/V6 ATTOKNEVS.

United States Patent 3,248,102 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING BOXED TISSUES Reginald Couzens, Wallingford, and Michael M. Young, Philadelphia, Pa. (both Dietz Machine Works, 3105 W. Allegheny Ave., Philadelphia, Pa.)

Filed May 14, 1964, Ser. No. 367,326 12 Claims. (Cl. 270-40) This invention relates to apparatus and method for producing boxed tissues. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus and method for producing an article of manufacture in the nature of a container having a continuous accordion pleated web made up of individual A-folded sheets joined together with a separable joint.

The article of manufacture of the present invention is a container having a continuous accordion pleated webmade up of individual A-folded sheets joined together with a separable joint. The container is provided with a dispensing opening through which the sheets are individually pulled. The length of the opening is less than the length of the sheets. The separable joint is of such a nature that the passage of the sheets through the constricted opening results in sufiicient tension being applied to the sheets whereby the sheets become sep-' arated. The separable joint may be accomplished 'in a variety of manners such as wetting the sheets at spaced points, applying a small amount of adhesive at spaced joints, etc. In the preferred embodiment to be disclosed hereinafter, the sheets are joined together by spaced embossments.

The apparatus of the present invention for producing the article of manufacture includes. a plurality'of devices for supporting rolls of web material and a separate means for folding the web material of each roll. The folding means folds the web material into two layers superimposed over each other with a longitudinally extending fold line opposite the free edges. In the art to which this invention pertains, such a fold is referred to as an A-fold. Means are provided for associating the layers ofweb material from each roll in superimposed relation to form what is referred to in the trade as a rope. Also, means are provided for joining the longitudinal edge portions of one layer to the longitudinal edge portions of the next adjacent layer with an easily separable joint as referred to above.

The apparatus of the present invention preferably includes two lines. The rope of each line is conveyed to a point wherein the rolls are superimposed over each other and fed to a cutting device which cuts the rope into lengths suitable for boxing. Prior to being cut, the combined'rope may be integrated by joining the lowermost layer of the top rope half to the uppermost layer of the bottom rope half. The apparatus is designed for continuous use whereby the rope may be manufactured at high speeds such as speeds sufficient to produce 250 boxes of web material per minute.

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus and method for producing a novel article of manufacture in the nature of a container having an accordion pleated web made up of individual A-folded sheets with adjacent sheets being joined to each other with a readily separable joint.

It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus and method for producing a container having folded sheets of tissue paper with adjacent sheets joined together with a joint automatically separable during removal of the sheets from a dispensing opening in the container.

It is 'another object of the presentinvention to provide apparatus and method for producing a container mentalities shown.

having paper tissues disposed therein with adjacent tissues being connected together in a novel manner while at the same time capable of being manufactured at high speeds.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of producing a novel article of manufacture at high speeds.

It is another object of the present invention to provide novel apparatus for folding, associating and jointing A-folded layers of web material.

It is another object of the present invention to provide novel apparatus for folding, associating and joining A-folded layers of web material to form a rope which may be further processedto produce a container having sheets of said web material capable of being dispensed one at a time.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus'for producing at high speeds a rope of A-folded paper tissues with adjacent layers of the tissue having their longitudinally extending edges joined together by spaced aligned embossments.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings forms which are presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instru- FIGURE 1 is a partial top plan view of the apparatus of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a partial perspective View of a portion of the apparatus illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2.

FIGURE 4 is a partial perspective view of an accordion pleated Web made up of individual A-folded sheets.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional wiew taken along the line 55 in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view ofthe container having sheets of web material capable of being dispensed one at a time in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 7 is a view, partly in section, and taken along the line 77 in FIGURE 6.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a partial top plan view of the apparatus of the present invention designated generally as 10.

The apparatus 10 includes a first manufacturing line 11 and a second manufacturing line 13. The manufacturing line 11 produces a rope half 12 and manufacturing line 13 produces a rope half 14 which are subsequently superimposed over one another to form a rope 16. The rope 16 is fed to a cutter device 18 which cuts the rope 16 into .unit lengths which are then subsequently boxed.

The manufacturing lines 11 and 13 are identical. Hence, for the purposes of the present invention it is deemed sufiicient to only describe manufacturing line 11.

The corresponding elements of manufacturing line 13 are illustrated with primed numerals.

Manufacturing line 11 is of substantial length, such as feet long depending upon the number of layers desired in the rope 16. For example, if rope 16 is to be 200 layers of web material, rope half 12 will only be 100 layers of web material. Accordingly, manufacturing line 11 will have 100 stations. At each station, there will be provided a roll of web material. For example, in FIGURE 1 the manufacturing line 11 is illustrated as including rolls 20, 22 and 24 of Web material. Since no useful purpose is attained by illustrating all 100 stations, it is believed that the illustration of three stations is sufficient.

I station at which roll 22 is supported will be described in detail. The roll 22 of web material is supported from a frame 28 by a pair of brackets 26. The web material 30 from roll 22 may be a variety of materials. Preferably, the web material 30 is a tissue paper comparable to that commercially available under the trademarks Kleenex, Scotties, etc.

. The web material 30 is extended over a top idler roller 32, over a V-shaped plow 34 and then extended between rollers 36 and 38. The rollers 36 and 38 have a longitudinal axis which is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of roll 22. As a general rule, the roll 22 has a diameter greater than its width. Accordingly, substantial space is saved by the structural interrelationship of the present invention wherein the roll 22 rotates about an axis which is parallel to the direction of movement of the rope 12.

The combination of the plow 34 and the rollers 36 and 38 result in the web material 30 having a top layer 42 and a bottom layer 44 with a fold line 46 opposite from the longitudinally extending free edges thereof. Thus, web material folded in this manner is known in the trade as material having an A-fold. From the rollers 36 and 38, web material 30 is extended around a roller 40 and then fed in superimposed relationship over the rope half 12.

A plow 48 is provided so as to maintain the layer 42 above and spaced from the layer 44 at a joining station immediately adjacent to the roller 40. At the joining station, the longitudinally extending edge portion of the layer '44 and the layer 50 are fed between embossing rollers 52 and S4. Layer 50 constitutes the uppermost layer of the A-folded web material from the roll 24.

The embossing rollers 52 and 54 are mating rollers. Preferably, roller 52 is a male roller and roller 54 is the female roller. Rollers 52 and 54 are geared together and driven by a transmisison unit 56.

A flexible member such as an endless chain 58 extends around sprockets on the shaft for roller 52 and the shaft for roller 40. Another flexible member such as endless chain 60 extends around another sprocket on the shaft for roller 40 and a sprocket on the shaft for roller 36. Thus, rollers 36 and 40 are driven rollers and will move the web material 30 at the same speed as the embossing rollers.

The transmission unit 56 is coupled to a power drive by means of a shaft 62 which terminates in a bevel gear 64 which in turn is in meshing engagement with a bevel gear 66. Bevel gear 66 is fixedly secured to the main drive shaft 68. The main drive shaft 68 is coupled to a variable speed motor 70 which in turnis synchronized with or driven by the motor for device 18. It will be noted that the main drive shaft 68 extends parallel to the direction of movement of the rope half 12 and is coupled to the transmission unit of the embosser at each joining station in the manufacturing line 11.

In view of the above description, it should be readily apparent that the layer 42 will be joined to the lowermost layer of the A-folded web material from the roll 20.

The rope halves 12 and 14 then pass through guides 72 and 74 which change their direction of travel both in plane and elevation, so that they are now moving toward each other. The rope halves 12 and 14 meet at a guide 76 which superimposes them one over the other to form the rope 16 and changes the direction of travel so that they are now moving in a horizontal plane, toward the cutter device 18. Between the guide 76 and the cutter device 18, there is provided an embosser unit 80, identical with those described above, for joining the lowermost layer on the rope half 14 to the uppermost layer of the rope half 12 with a separable-joint as described above. It will be noted that the uppermost layer of the A-folded web material from roll 20 is half the width of the rope half 14 for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

Referring to FIGURE 4, there is illustrated therein a portion of a continuous accordion pleated web made up i of individual A-folded sheets. The uppermost sheet has layers 86 and 88. Layers 86 and 88 are formed from the web material of roll 20.

Itwill be noted that the layer 86 is one half the width of layer 88. If desired,

roll 20 may be of the same size as the other rolls and the same effect achieved by varying the folding means for the web material on this roll. The layer 88 is joined 1 at its free edge to the free edge of the layer 92 by spaced 5 embossments 90. The embossments 90 are identical with those described above. Layer 92 is part of the web material from roll 22'.

It will be noted that all of the embossments 90 from manufacturing line 13 are on one side i be utilized for the configuration of the embossment."

The contour of the embossments or otherjoin- Other devices for providing a separable joint may be a 1 plurality of spaced wet spots, spaced aligned pierced holes through the superimposed layers of web material, etc. It

is suggested that the cross sectional area of each em- I bossment be approximately. of a square inch.

After the rope 16 is cut into unit lengths, the stacks are boxed into containers 94 in a conventional manner. The container 94 has means on one wall defining an opening 96 through which the layers of web material can be dispensed. Such means maybe a portion 97 connected 1 to the remainder of the wallof the container 94 by perforation marks or the like. In order to effect a dispensing action, the portion 97 will be removed and dis- 1 carded. When the container 94 is first opened, the layer 86 will be the uppermost layer and its free edge will be centrally disposed with respect to the longitudinally extending opening 96 for ready removal. constriction afforded by the opening 96, the tension necessary to pull the sheets through the opening 96 is greater than the holding force of the joint effected by the spaced embossments 90, hence the sheets separate from Due to the one another leaving a portion of the next adjacent sheet.

partially extending through the opening 96.

In order that the embosser rollers, such as rollers 52 and 54 move at the same speed as the belt 84 which supports the rope half 12, the belt 84 is driven off the main drive shaft 68. As illustrated, this is accomplished by a rack on the lowermost surface of the belt 84 which .is in meshing engagement with a pinion 98 on shaft 100.

Shaft 100 has a bevel gear 102 in meshing engagement with a bevel. gear 104. Bevel gear 104 is on shaft 106.

Shaft 106 has a bevel gear 108 in meshing engagement 1 with a bevel gear 110 on shaft 68. In order that belt 84 may support the weight of the rope half 12, spaced aligned rollers 80 are provided on the frame 28. As

will be apparent to those skilled in the art, other devices.

may be used to synchronize the speed of the belt 84 and 1 the rollers 52 and 54. For example, a crown pulley and belt may be used in lieu of the rack and pinion.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. Apparatus comprising a plurality of devices for supporting rolls of web material, a separate means for folding the web material of each roll to provide at least two layers with a longitudinally extending fold line, means for associating the layers from each roll in superimposed relation to form a rope, and means for joining the longitudinal edge portions of one layer to the longitudinal edge portions of the next adjacent layer of the rope with an easily separable joint.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein a separate joining means is disposed between adjacent supporting devices.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 including a conveyor device mounted for movement below the plane of said folding means for moving the rope relative to the folding means, said supporting devices being adapted to support rolls of web material for rotation about an axis parallel to the path of the conveyor means as it travels past said supporting devices.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said folding means is adapted to fold the web material to provide the same with an A-fold.

5. Apparatus comprising a plurality of devices for supporting two rows of rolls of web material, a separate means for folding the web material of each roll to provide the web material with an A-fold, a conveyor means for each row, means for associating the layers from each roll of each row to form a rope to be conveyed by said conveyor means, a separate means between adjacent ones of said devices for joining the longitudinally extending edge portions of adjacent layers with 'an easily separable joint, means for combining each rope into a single rope, and means for joining the lowermost layer of one rope to the uppermost layer of another rope.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein each joining means is an embosser unit, each embosser unit being adjacent one of said folding means, and a common drive means for each embosser unit of each row.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 including means coupling each conveyor means to the drive means for its respective row in a manner so that each conveyor means moves at the same speed as the embosser rollers of the embosser units in its row.

8. Apparatus comprising a plurality of devices for supporting rolls of web material, a separate means for folding the web material of each roll with an A-fold,

means for associating the layers from each roll in superimposed relationship to form a rope, and means for joining the longitudinally extending edge portions of one layer of each A-folded web material to longitudinally extending edge portions of the next adjacent layer, said last mentioned means including an embosser for providing spaced embossments which constitute the joint.

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 8 including a conveyor means mounted for movement below said folding means for supporting the rope, and means for rotating rollers of the embosser at the same rate of speed of movement of said conveyor means.

10. Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 wherein said joining means includes a plurality of embossers on the same side of said conveyor means.

11. A method comprising unwinding web material at a plurality of aligned stations, folding the web material at each station, superimposing the folded web material of each station over the folded web material of the preceding stations to form a rope, and joining a longitudinally extending free edge of each folded web material to a corresponding free edge of folded web material from the next adjacent station.

12. A method in accordance with claim 11 including providing another rope having the longitudinally extending free edges of web material similarly joined together, superimposing said ropes to form a composite rope, and then cutting the composite rope to unit lengths.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED, STATES PATENTS 764,188 7/1904 Hanier 22148 1,837,731 12/1931 Smith 7 2704O 2,118,380 5/1938 Gresenz 22148 2,320,652 6/1943 Preston 270 3,066,932 12/1962 Greiner et al. 270-40 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF DEVICES FOR SUPPORTIG ROLLS OF WEB MATERIAL, A SEPARATE MEANS FOR FOLDING THE WEB MATERIAL OF EACH ROLL TO PROVIDE AT LEAST TWO LAYERS WITH A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING FOLD LINE, MEANS FOR ASSOCIATING THE LAYERS FROM EACH ROLL IN SUPERIMPOSED RELATION TO FORM A ROPE, AND MEANS FOR JOINING THE LONGITUDINAL EDGE PORTIONS OF ONE LAYER TO THE LONGITUDINAL EDGE PORTIONS OF THE NEXT ADJACENT LAYER OF THE ROPE WITH AN EASILY SEPARABLE JOINT. 